


Sometimes You Just Have To Give Your Bro a Kiss

by ParaducksSpace



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Bad Haiku, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff, Kisses, M/M, T for swearing, memories told through dream sequences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 08:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19390321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParaducksSpace/pseuds/ParaducksSpace
Summary: "The building had come a long way from when Rhys had begun the process of reestablishing Atlas, especially since the first iteration of the building, way before there was even talk about moving the business off-planet. Vaughn felt pretty proud of what Rhys had accomplished, even if the idea of leaving Pandora had been frightening when he had established a new life as a bandit. Rhys was his best friend after all and Vaughn would do anything for him."Vaughn and Rhys bond after Vaughn has been gone for a while, theres a kiss, Zer0 is there, what more do you want





	Sometimes You Just Have To Give Your Bro a Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> Self indulgence? In my fics? Its more likely than you think

“What’s up?” 

Vaughn had made his way into the Atlas headquarters after a long trek through the wastes of Pandora and then a sleepless trip on Sanctuary III. His journey took weeks of manual labor and left him ragged and worn out, not to mention the weird tests Tannis ran on him while he was on the ship. When he arrived, his hair and clothes still covered in so much dust and skag blood that it was almost a completely different color, he expected a warm welcome from his old friends. What he did not expect was Rhys, happily aloof looking at plans for new guns. You can take the guy outta Hyperion, but couldn't take the Hyperion outta the guy, Vaughn guesses.

“Oh! Vaughn, I didn't see you come in! Sit, sit we've got a lot to talk about! Also look at my new arm! I fixed it up since you last saw me. Snazzy isn't it?” Rhys shows off his arm, twisting it back and forth. “The old chrome was getting a bit foggy, so a thought a nice Atlas red would look just awesome. Do you like it? It matches the new suit.”

“The paint is nice bro.” Vaughn paused, taking a good look at the robotic prosthetic for the first time, trying to process everything Rhys had said as his mouth went a mile a minute. “It’s actually quite nice, blends well, looks dignified.” Vaughn awkwardly scratched the back of his head, pulling some of the hair where his bun used to be. He kind of missed the feeling of all his hair. He felt the cool wind on his back as the automatic door opened and closed behind him. The quickly cooling sweat on the bare skin of his back reminded him that he wasn’t planning on staying this long before taking advantage of the facility's warm showers. 

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Rhys stroked his mustache a couple of times, showcasing how bushy it has gotten. “I’m trying to find my own groove, you feel me? I think it suits me. The workers really love it.”

Vaughn chuckled softly, still not sitting down in the shiny leather chair Rhys had turned toward him. “Alright, bro. If everyone else likes it, I’ll like it. We can talk about it later. I just wanted to let you know the mission you sent me on was successful, even if Torgue is completely unable to say what he needs to over ECHO, it wasn’t too bad. Now I'm gonna-” Vaughn points his thumbs back to the door as he starts walking backwards, hoping the automatic door will open before he bonks into it. “dip. I've got a warm shower calling my name, bro.”

Rhys rolls his eyes before responding. “Alright, go get clean.” Rhys watches Vaughn turn to face the door just as it opens before interjecting again. “Oh, also, if you see Zer0, tell them I need those parts they have taken to R&D!”

Vaughn gave a quick thumbs up over his shoulder before letting the door  _ swish _ closed behind him. He let out a soft sigh before continuing through the corridors and across the hub to his designated chamber. Running his hand over his face, Vaughn thought about the changes that had happened since the both of them landed on the planet for the first time. 

_ He looks really good now _ Vaughn thought to himself.  _ Even with the new mustache. Stunning.  _

Vaughn found himself stroking his own face as he entered his room. It had gotten quite a bit longer since before his trip out into the wastes, so expecting that he was the only one able to grow facial hair was kind of unfair. He gave his beard a good comb through before showering and changing into clean, not dirt and skag-blood covered, clothes. The feeling of warm water on his skin was so nice after the perpetual dust clouds that surround the deserts of Pandora.  _ If Torgue really wanted to get in contact with Atlas, he could’ve just called. Didn’t have to send me halfway across the fucking system to tell me jack shit and make me lift millions of boxes. Isn't he strong enough to do this shit on his own? Jackass. At least he’s nice to look at.  _ Vaughn let the water soothe him to the bone, relaxing his sore muscles and staying under the spray until it got too cold to stand anymore. 

When Vaughn finally got out of the shower it was past nightfall but he was restless. Two weeks of shift sleeping with three bandits in Atlas garb in a popup tent, then a day of travel at light speed on a ship filled to the brim with vault hunters messed with his sleeping schedule enough that it almost seemed impossible to go back to normal. Whatever normal meant to him now. Vaughn ran a hand through his drying hair before tying the drawstring on his pajama bottoms. The door to the hall  _ swished _ open as he looped his hair up into a bandana to keep the last few drips out of his eyes and stepped out into the hallway to clear his mind. The building had come a long way from when Rhys had begun the process of reestablishing Atlas, especially since the first iteration of the building, way before there was even talk about moving the business off-planet. Vaughn felt pretty proud of what Rhys had accomplished, even if the idea of leaving Pandora had been frightening when he had established a new life as a bandit. Rhys  _ was _ his best friend after all and Vaughn would do anything for him.

The couches in the Atlas hub still had that stiff corporate feeling to them, but Vaughn decided it was softer than the desert ground. Or the pile of skags that Tannis offered him to sleep on.  _ For science _ she had said. He declined as politely as he could, he was a business major after all and he never quite got on with the bioethics types in college. He spread out on one of the couches, resting on his back to look up at the huge skylight above. The comfort level was marginally better, but the fear of death was much lower, so the experience was overall more comforting than the Pandoran deserts. The light shining from the surrounding star systems was beautiful coming through the panes of glass in the low light of the facility at night. Vaughn began to do what he always did when he got a chance to look at the sky. He picked out a couple of constellations he recognized and calculated the distance between them and how far away was ‘home’. He slipped his glasses out of his sweatpants’ pocket and set them on the bridge of his nose. He began lazily searching the ECHONet for info about the stars he could see, absorbing as much information as he could. Within a few moments, Vaughn had fallen asleep, glasses slightly askew on his nose. 

The sun was bright and warm on his skin. The technical Vaughn was driving was dead and he couldn't see a digistruct station anywhere. What he could see was a cluster of buildings beneath an overpass, close to the opening of a canyon.  _ Anywhere to get out of this heat.  _ He whistled for the three guards he was traveling with before jogging to the structures. 

A painted over welcome sign caught his eye as Vaughn finally stumbled into the shade. The population number seemed to have been painted over so many times the sign seemed to bulge out slightly in the area under the number. Despite that, it currently read 23. Vaughn made a few hand signals to his entourage to let them know the place might contain other people and to go quietly. He silently thanked interplanetary sign language when a bullet whizzed past his first guard. Crouching behind the sign, Vaughn pulled out his sniper rifle to pick off his attackers while the guards huddled behind cover and shot blindly with their guns. 

As the last marauder went down, Vaughn sighed, laying down in the dirt. He was tired and dirty and covered in sweat. With a grunt, he pushed himself back up into a standing position before checking on his guards. They all gave him a thumbs up as the one guard crouched down to administer a health hypo to her fellow guards. 

Slinging his gun back over his shoulder, Vaughn gave his neck a healthy pop before walking over to the bodies, the slight trails of color visible in his glasses. He adjusts them slightly before analyzing the field. Mostly common bandit weapons, nothing special. A few okay looking uncommons light up his field of view left by a bigger psycho, and a nice rare in the center of everything. He kneels down to take a look at it. It’s a fairly hefty shotgun. Tediore build with a few Maliwan touches.  _ Probably flame elemental _ . He stands and looks down the ironsight, aiming towards the opening of the canyon. The shot rings out what seems like three bullets, lighting the ground on fire for a second before it goes out. 

“Cool.” Vaughn mumbles to himself. 

“Vaughn, ser!” One of the guards calls from one of the buildings. “We found a digistruct station! Should we just remake the car?”

“Yeah! Someone come get these guns!” The other two guards come rushing over, picking up what they can hold. “Keep whatever you want. I’m sure the others won’t mind.” Vaughn winks at them before jogging over to the building. 

He watches over the digistruction of the new car before a scream rang through the canyon behind them.

"Get in the car, get in the car!" The two guards come running towards the new technical, sliding into the bed. Barreling past the buildings behind them is one of the biggest skags Vaughn had seen in a while, its skin dripping with the purple eridium sludge covering the area. It lets out a screech as Vaughn and the other guard hop into the front seats. 

He stomps on the gas as the skag begins chasing them, looping around and past it to exit its territory. The guards lay covering fire as he pushes past tons of other, smaller skags, yelling "Sorry!" at each one he hits. 

He turns to look over his shoulder to see how close the skag had gotten before everything goes white. His temple is numb, his ears are ringing and the technical is stopped. He hears firing around him, but he can’t open his eyes enough to tell what’s going on. He drops, head falling on the steering wheel, letting the horn blare. 

Next thing he knows, one of his guards is hunched over him, pulling a hypo from his upper thigh. Vaughn lifts up, realizing he’s on his back in the bed of the moving technical and night has set. He blinks a few times and sees the Sanctuary III on the horizon. He blinks again and looks up at the night sky, the sun setting and painting his face a soft red.

Vaughn blinked, feeling slightly stiff and being held in strong arms, cradled against a muscular chest. He opened his eyes fully, hoping to see brown eyes looking back at him, but was greeted with a curved black helmet instead, soft LED’s showing a set of ellipses. The mask went blank as Vaughn began to wriggle around, realizing Zer0 was holding him like a small child who had fallen asleep in a car. 

“Ah, you are awake. / Finally, I was worried / you had up and died.” Zer0 said, their mask lighting up with a smiley face. 

“Uh, no just fell asleep, y-you can put me down now, dude.” Vaughn continued to wriggle in Zer0’s arms, disliking the sensation of not knowing where he was upon waking up after such a stressful dream. 

“If you continue / to move I may drop you and / break all of your bones.” Zer0’s mask went blank. Vaughn went still as a deer caught in the headlights, except it was a Vaughn, caught in the soft ambient glow Zer0's helmet constantly emits.

“I kid.” Zer0's helmet smiled again, bathing Vaughn's face in red light.

Vaughn exhaled a soft chuckle. “Well that's good, I guess.” He quickly weighed his options being in Zer0's arms and did what any sensible person would. He wrapped his arms around Zer0's neck, resting his head on the vault hunter's shoulder. Vaughn was expecting sharp angles and bones but Zer0 had more muscle under the suit than it appeared. The position was actually surprisingly nice. 

“So where are you taking me?” Vaughn asked, looking at the reflection of the mix of the dim fluorescent hallway lights and the ambient purple glow of Elpis on Zer0's mask. 

“I am taking you / back up to your room because / you snore kind of loud.” Zer0 lifts Vaughn up a bit higher in their arms.

“We passed my room a few minutes ago, actually. Do you know where you're going?” Vaughn looked up at the mask, raising an eyebrow.

Zero shrugged which lifted Vaughn's head slightly off their shoulder. Their mask glowed with a ;) that made Vaughn roll his eyes. 

Zer0 continued to carry Vaughn around the complex, showing no sign of exhaustion from holding Vaughn for so long. Vaughn pointed out star complexes he had seen while in the desert that looked similar enough from this planet as well and Zer0 noted things that had changed inside the complex while Vaughn was away. Their banter was easy and calm, letting the silence stretch naturally enough despite the fact that Vaughn couldn’t see when Zer0 was about to speak. Eventually they rounded back to where Vaughn had fallen asleep on the couch and Zer0 presumably picked him up. 

"I was just so enamored with the color of the sky from this angle. You can barely see some of these constellations from the desert this time of year and I kinda missed it. It reminds me of the sky where I grew up.” Zer0 watched Vaughn’s eyes light up as he looked through the skylight. “I missed a lot of things here, actually.” Vaughn was absentmindedly running his hands through his hair like he would have if it was still in a bun.

"Like what?" Zer0 asked. Vaughn waited, seeing if the vault hunter would continue the question into a haiku, but it stopped there. 

“Y’know. Not being shot at is one.” Vaughn laughed off his anxiousness as Zer0 responded with a :) to his point. “I missed the A/C honestly.” Vaughn sighed, using both his hands to run through his hair, undoing the bandana that was wrapped around his forehead. 

Zer0’s mask showed a :( before tilting to set Vaughn down. 

“What’s wrong?” Vaughn asked, hand going up to his hair, wondering what he did.

“The sky is brighter / than it was when I found you / you should get some sleep.” Zer0 pointed toward the horizon skylights, showing the sky beginning to turn a soft lavender as the sun began to rise. 

“Oh, shit yeah.” Vaughn nodded, staring off into the horizon. He shook his head quickly as his memory caught up to him. “Oh, Zer0, by the way. Rhys wanted you to bring something to R&D? I don’t think he said what, but whatever. Stuff.” He turned his back and gave a small wave, as he yawned. “G’night.”

Vaughn took his time walking back to his room, admiring all the windows that let him see the fading stars. 

Vaughn woke around noon to the sound of someone knocking on his door. He stretched before sliding out of bed to answer the door. Rhys’ smiling face quickly reddened as he looked down at Vaughn, hair mussed and only in his sleep pants and socks. 

“‘Sup Rhys?” Vaughn yawned, stretching his arms up, making his back and hips pop.

“Hey, uh, Vaughn, sorry to wake you up I was just talking with Zer0 about some projects and wanted your input on some stuff but, like, no rush just come back to my office when you’re,” Rhys’ eyes darted down to look at Vaughn, his muscles still prominent if now covered in a few long nasty scars. He could feel the tips of his ears go red before quickly continuing “when you’re decent.”

Vaughn nodded before rolling his neck a few times, getting it to pop as well. “I’ll be down in a bit then. I’m just gonna throw a shirt on if you wanna stay dude.” Vaughn turned away from the door, walking to his dresser. 

“No, I think I should go, I wouldn’t want to be in the way or anything.” Rhys lifted his flesh hand to run over the back of his quickly reddening neck. 

Vaughn rifled through his shirts before pulling a button up on. “Nah, you’re not in the way, plus I’m almost done!” He slipped his arms into the sleeves before grabbing his shoes and sliding them on. “Done. Now, where are we goin’?”

“Actually, you’re probably gonna wanna, I don’t know, change pants? I’m gonna, get it ready. Meet me in R&D.” Rhys swallows, pointing his thumb to the hallway. “See ya soon my man.” Rhys turned, placing his metal hand on his forehead to cool his skin down. Vaughn watched as Rhys left, long limbs a bit too stiff. 

Vaughn was about to call out to Rhys to watch out before a small cleaning bot zoomed up under his foot. Rhys stumbled, falling ass over tea kettle and landing flat on his back. Vaughn chuckled slightly as the door swished closed. He let his cheeks warm as he toed his shoes back off to change pants.  _ What a dork. _ Vaughn thought to himself with a smile.  _ Serves him right for not watching where he’s going with those nice long legs and those stupid heeled boots that make his thighs look really nice..  _ Vaughn’s mind wandered off as he pulled on his longer jorts. They were his last pair that weren’t riddled with bullet holes, so he made a mental note to cut more next time he stopped somewhere with nice jeans. 

He slipped his shoes back on before heading out into the hall, no sign of the cleaning bot or Rhys. Vaughn chuckled to himself again before continuing down the hall to R&D. 

When he entered, Vaughn saw that the room had been cleared out and a firing range had been set up. A closed chest was sat in front of the guard rail and Rhys was placing a few rounds of ammo on the small desk next to the chest. 

"Hey man. So. what's up?" Vaughn called. Rhys fumbled the cartridge in his hands, letting it slip and crash onto the ground. 

“Guns!” Rhys yelled, bending quickly to grab the lost cartridge. He waved his arms to show Vaughn the range, smiling with his eyes on Vaughn’s forehead, trying not to look down at his still exposed chest. 

Vaughn raised an eyebrow at Rhys. “Where?” he chuckled softly, walking closer to the chest. “All I see is ammo.”

Rhys swore under his breath before kicking the chest next to him, making it open up. It sprang to life and opened, an array of a few different weapon types were placed in the chest. 

“Try them out. I want to know if they bandit population will buy my products.” Rhys stepped back from the chest, letting Vaughn move closer to sort through the guns. 

“I’m glad you think so highly of me!” Vaughn laughed up at Rhys, picking up an assault with an interesting looking scope. “Now, lets try these babies out.” 

Vaughn hefted the gun up to look down the scope before firing a few rounds down range. He hummed to himself, looking the gun over a bit before emptying the clip on the target. 

“Hand me another clip. The sight is a little off, but the firing is smooth.” Vaughn said, looking up at the target then over to Rhys. Rhys grabbed another clip before sliding it into place in the gun. 

“Watch this.” Rhys whispers, sliding a ring on the grip of the gun. The sight of the gun slides to the left and the end of the barrel begins to glow with a soft blue light. 

Vaughn’s eyes grow wide as he hefts the gun back up to quickly empty the clip into the target. The lack of a sight made a few of the shots go wide, but the bullets that hit crackled with electricity and the bullets homed back in, crisping the edges of the target as it softly burned. 

“Fire!” Rhys called before a spray of water filled the end of the firing range, dousing the target. 

Vaughn yells softly, looking the gun over another time. He spins the ring back and forth, watching the sight flip up and down. He laughs excitedly, looking up at Rhys. 

“Are they all like this?” He asks, placing the gun back down and grabbing a pistol instead. 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Rhys smiled, showing him the switch on the pistol. Vaughn fired at the target again, his excitable laughter infectious. 

“Rhys this is so fucking cool, bro!” Vaughn turned back to Rhys, excitement still clear in his eyes. “God, I’m so excited to get some of these for the girls on Pandora. Holy shit Rhys.”

Rhys’ face went red as he stumbled his way through his response. “I mean, it was mostly just the R&D guys and Zer0’s input, I just had a few points about the design and-” Rhys was cut short as Vaughn grabbed him by the tie and pulled him down, their lips connecting. 

Rhys yelped in surprise before sinking into the kiss, bending down to catch his fingers in Vaughn’s hair. Vaughn responded in kind, looping his arms around Rhys’ neck, pulling him down farther. 

The two split apart when they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. Rhys slipped backwards, ending up flat on his back for the 2nd time that day. Vaughn’s blush spread all the way down his neck and up to his ears. 

“Are you guys done yet? / We still need to work on your / accuracy, Rhys.” Zer0 said, walking into the room and lending Rhys a hand up. “It seems that you keep / missing the mark, so to speak. / This is R and D.” They tapped their fingers against the gun chest before continuing. “By the look of things / you must have missed your bedroom / and just made out here.” Zer0’s mask flashed a ;) emoji before a slightly scratchy laugh came from beneath their helmet.

Rhys and Vaughn sheepishly made their way to the door and into the hallway. Once the door was closed behind them Rhys grabbed Vaughn’s hand, intertwining their fingers together. Vaughn looked up into Rhys’ eyes, both of their cheeks flushed red. 

“So, would you want to continue this conversation elsewhere, or…” Rhys began, turning to face Vaughn as he walked backwards towards his room.

“Yes, one question first. What were you planning for when Zer0 walked in?” Vaughn raised an eyebrow at Rhys.

“They were, uh, supposed to suggest we looked tired and sent us away, but I didn’t expect you to,” Rhys hushed his voice, coming closer to Vaughn to whisper, “to kiss me after firing the prototypes.” 

Vaughn chuckled, squeezing Rhys’ hand. “What can I say, the thought of firing off makes me excited.” 

“Vaughn!” Rhys yell-whispered again.

Vaughn winked in response, giving Rhys’ hand another squeeze as they continued to walk down the hallway. 

**Author's Note:**

> paraducksspace.tumblr.com please hmu i love writing about these dorks  
> beta was my girlfriend bc im a wlw and crave yearning


End file.
